


Birthdays

by blynninja



Series: Childhood [5]
Category: Akatsuki no Yona | Yona of the Dawn
Genre: Alternate Universe, Birthday, Friendship, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-30
Updated: 2015-09-30
Packaged: 2018-04-24 01:52:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4900990
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blynninja/pseuds/blynninja
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Yoon helps Yona prepare the Son house for a birthday party. In a series, but can probably be read alone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Birthdays

Yona never talked much about what had happened to her parents, but Yoon did know that it had been tragic and sudden.

Hak had confided once that it had been a car accident, the night of Yona’s 13th birthday. She had been waiting for her parents to bring the car around after a birthday dinner, and as the car had pulled up to the curb, it had been hit head-on by another driver going too fast in the rain. Yoon couldn’t even imagine what that must have been like.

Yona had become an orphan, and Hak’s family had taken her in, citing their long-standing family friendship.

Yoon had asked Yona once what it was like to live with such a rowdy family, and she had looked thoughtfully at him, smiling slowly.

“It’s nice, having so many distractions. They’re all so kind.”

And then she had turned quiet and stared at a flower for so long that Yoon had thought she had maybe fallen asleep.

Hak had shown up then, appearing out of nowhere as usual, and Yoon had known he’d heard.

They hadn’t spoken of it since.

\--

Yoon envied Yona’s calm in the face of the rowdiness that was the Son house.

He was helping them prepare the house for Tae-Woo’s 17th birthday, and it was complete chaos.

Had Yona not _insisted_ that he help, begging for his decorative flair, he would have run away the instant he’d set foot in the house.

He’d been here before, sure, but never on a clean-the-house-like-crazy day.

“Han-dae!” Yoon screeched, fuming. “Didn’t I _just_ ask you to help Yona hang that banner? Why are you just standing there?!”

Han-dae shrugged from his spot against the wall, looking like he was going to fall asleep.

“It’s okay, Yoon,” Yona chirped. “I can do it myself!”

“No you can’t,” Hak said, appearing out of nowhere as usual and gently shoving her to the side as he approached Han-dae, glaring.

The slightly younger boy cowered for a second, and then leaped up to help as Hak smirked. “Idiot.”

Hak grabbed Yona’s side of the banner, and she stepped backward, pouting.

“I could have done it!” she protested as the boys finished the task quickly, and Hak only ruffled her hair in response, moving on to find something else to do.

It took some time, but eventually the giant house was clean—nearly sparkling, if Yoon did say so himself—and all of the decorations were in place.

Tae-yeon was to bring Tae-Woo in soon, and the rest of them found places to stand for optimal surprise capacity.

When the door opened and Tae-yeon bounced in, followed by the birthday boy, the assembled group cried, “Happy birthday!” as loudly as possible, startling Tae-Woo so much that he toppled over backward.

Han-dae broke his fall, pulling him back upright, laughing.

“You—but—what?” Tae-Woo sputtered. “ _This_ was why you made me practice kendo with you?!” he asked Tae-yeon, who grinned happily.

“I really did want to practice!” the boy assured him. “But I wanted to help surprise you, too!”

Tae-Woo looked like he was going to fall over, and Hak shoved him into a chair.

Yona and Han-dae traipsed in from the kitchen, carrying a birthday cake between them, miraculously not tripping in the process.

Yoon lit the candles, they wished Tae-Woo a happy birthday again, and he managed to blow out all the candles in one try, to Han-dae’s dismay.

Mundok began to cut the cake, and Yoon glanced around, looking for Yona. She had left the circle, and he saw the hem of her dress disappearing into the hallway.

Curious, he followed her, making an excuse about needing to use the bathroom, and Hak gave him a significant look as he passed.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be right back,” Yoon promised, smiling briefly before he left the room and looked around for Yona.

She was curled up on the seat in the bay window in the next room, staring out the window, but her expression told him she wasn’t actually seeing everything.

“Yona?” he asked carefully, setting a hand on her shoulder gently.

Yona whipped around to face him, her eyes wide, and he backed up a step as she breathed, “Oh, it’s you. I’m okay.”

“Yona,” he protested. “I know you almost as well as Hak does. I can tell when you’re upset.”

Yona’s shoulders drooped as she looked back out the window, and Yoon let her have the silence.

“I don’t like birthdays,” she said finally.

“What?” he frowned, and Yona turned to look at him, her eyes full of tears.

“Oh, Yona,” Yoon whispered. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think—”

“It’s okay,” Yona interrupted, smiling sadly. “I’ve gotten used to them, living here. But I made Hak swear he’d never let them throw me another party. There are too many sad memories. I don’t like to think about them.”

“But birthdays should be celebrated,” Yoon protested quietly. “And you’ll be 16 soon, right? That’s a special day. We should do _something_.” 

Yona looked at him so sadly that he immediately regretted the suggestion.

“Or not!” he said hastily, waving his hands. “Forget I said anything. We don’t have to do anything if you don’t want to.”

Yona smiled sadly, tipping her head at him like she was thinking hard about something.

“Yoon?”

“Yes, Yona?”

“Thank you.”

He faltered. “For what?”

Yona beamed at him. “For being my friend.”

Yoon felt his face flush and cursed himself. “Of course I’m your friend! Weirdo.”

Yona giggled then, and Yoon relaxed. That was better.

“Here you are.”

Yoon turned, finding himself bumping into Hak, who blinked at him.

“Han-dae wanted to ask you something,” Hak informed him, and Yoon blinked back.

“Does he? What?”

Hak shrugged. “Go ask him.”

Yoon frowned slightly, and then rolled his eyes. “Fine. Geez, will I be glad to get out of this place.”

Hak gave him a funny look and then ruffled his hair, much to Yoon’s annoyance.

“We’re weird, but you love us,” Hak assured him, and Yoon waved a hand.

“I’m going to find out what your weirdo cousin wants,” he said quickly, waving at Yona as he turned to go.

She smiled at him again, super-happy this time, and Yoon grinned back.

“Thanks for inviting me today,” he called over his shoulder, not the least bit surprised to find Yona looking curiously up at Hak, who was watching her carefully.

Yoon smiled.

This place was crazy, but he kind of liked it.

**Author's Note:**

> I needed a reason for them to hang with Hak’s fam. Figured a birthday party would suffice. I have no clue what constitutes a surprise birthday party in Japan/Korea, so I went with what I know.  
> I like this modern universe so much.


End file.
